Hate and hate speech on the Internet exploded in Hesse last year: According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 7,800 complaints and tips were received by the state government's "Hessen gegen Hetze" reporting office in 2022.
This online service has been available for three years, and a total of almost 12,000 references to hate speech, extremist and criminal content were reported there during this time.
Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) has called on the Hessians to report hatred and hate speech on social media and on websites: "We all have it in our own hands as to how much compassion, helpfulness and a sense of responsibility characterize our interaction on the Internet."
Hate can affect anyone: In November 2019, two months before the registration office went online, the FDP member of parliament Wiebke Knell, for example, had to find out how quickly a person on the Internet could become a target for unbridled malice.
In a Facebook post, the hunter pointed out the complaint about the new hunting regulation and thus got herself into a massive shitstorm.
The Hessian State Hunting Association reported comments such as "People like you would probably have their own mother shot, just so they can climb the career ladder faster" or "Unfortunately, there are too few hunting accidents among hobby killers".
A propagandist wished Knell, "a shot would have to hit her in the back, so that she suffers similar torments as the animals".
11,800 cases have been reported since 2020
At the time, the member of parliament replied to the threats: "Hate and hate speech are increasing on the internet, you shouldn't just accept that." The state government saw it that way too and set up the reporting office on January 16, 2020 to also take action against the authors of such messages to be able to proceed better.
Since then, exactly 11,800 cases have been reported to the office, 5,340 of which were forwarded to the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office or to the central reporting office for criminal content on the Internet (ZMI) of the Federal Criminal Police Office due to suspicion of criminal content.
The employees assumed that 30 percent of the posts constituted a criminal offense of hate speech.
Another 19 percent are suspected of being insulted, and 15 percent are said to have approved of crimes.
In 3260 cases, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was informed because there were indications of extremism, 120 cases were forwarded directly to the Hessian State Criminal Police Office because there was a real danger to the persons threatened.